When Quant Meets Qual

Qualitative and quantitative research both have the demonstrated power to deepen our understanding of the “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.”  But that depth and breadth of understanding varies by methodology. Recognizing the unique value in each, KNow has outlined a range of use cases and scenarios where either quant, qual, or both can provide the best insights for the research objectives.

Quantitative explores questions like “How much?” “How many?” “How Often?” and “To What extent?”  Writing a quantitative survey instrument requires a clear and structured set of hypotheses to test as well as a carefully developed, pre-defined set of questions to ask. Once a survey hits the field, the questions are more or less “set in stone” where pivoting on questions, wording, or hypotheses once live poses a challenge.

Qualitative, however, allows for more flexibility to reprioritize hypotheses and questions on the fly during fieldwork. For this reason, it can serve as a powerful leading methodology, used to shape or refine hypotheses before a quantitative study. When positioned as an inspirational source for exploration, qualitative allows us to gather deeper context and nuance around roles, processes, and journeys, and to strengthen our understanding of customer rationale.

Because qualitative and quantitative research offer different data points and perspectives, combining them in a multi-phased study (as timing, budget, and prioritization allows) can produce potent and persuasive results. But choosing the “order of operations” comes down to objectives. We’ve highlighted examples to help showcase when it may make sense to lead with qual over quant or vise versa.

While we welcome clients coming to us after conducting a quantitative study, it can be ideal for us as researchers to have a hand in each phase of research, so that the study is crafted holistically and with distinct objectives in mind at every step. At KNow, we partner with fantastic quant experts to make these hybrid studies integrated and seamless. For example, we may use our expertise and leverage expert partners to craft a Phase 1 questionnaire geared toward the right target audience, resulting in a large enough pool of participants to recruit into a qualitative Phase 2.

At KNow, we relish the opportunity to integrate learnings across qualitative and quantitative methodologies. We are happy to brainstorm with you on ways to super-charge your insights with hybrid studies! For a quote or an exploratory call, email us at admin@knowresearch.com!